Former Bank Adjuster Pleads Guilty To Stealing More Than $400,000 in Conn.

 A former bank employee has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of embezzlement from a federally-insured bank, admitting she used her position to embezzle more than $400,000 to pay debts.

Maria Rosa Esteves, 40, of Bridgeport waived her right to an indictment with her plea Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

According to court documents, Esteves was employed by People's United Bank from 1993 to 2014. Starting in 2006, she worked primarily in the bank's Adjustments Department, rising to the position of lead adjuster. Her responsibilities included arranging for bank cashiers' checks to be issued to customers whose accounts need to be adjusted, the U.S. Attorney's office said.


Esteves stole more than $400,000 from the bank by using cashiers' checks that she would then use to pay people or organizations to whom she owed money, such as her utility company, homeowner's insurance company and mortgage providers, the documents show.


Esteves also embezzled money by depositing cashiers' checks into bank accounts she controlled, said U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thomas Carson.

In all, Esteves misappropriated more than 300 cashiers' checks, he said.

She faces a maximum prison term of 30 years, a fine of up to $1 million and an order of restitution when she is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hartford Nov. 7.

City Councilor Turns Self in on Larceny Charge in Connecticutt

A West Haven city councilor suspected of stealing more than $170,000 when he worked in a bank has turned himself in to New Canaan police on larceny charges.

Stephen DeCrescenzo was an employee of the New Canaan branch of Citizens bank and is accused of embezzling $172,000 from the accounts of two customers and using another account to filter the money, police said.

DeCrescenzo was charged with two counts of first-degree larceny. He appeared in court on Friday and was released on a written promise to appear.

The two victims are New Canaan residents, according to police.

DeCrescenzo turned himself in to New Canaan police on Friday morning and was unable to post $300,000 bond. He will be arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court this morning.

Friends told NBC Connecticut that DeCrescenzo no longer works at the bank.

He is still a West Haven City Councilor and is running for re-election next Tuesday.

His attorney said he advised his client not to drop out of the race.

Tom McCarthy serves on the council with DeCrescenzo and said he is shocked by the allegations.

“My initial reaction was shock. I've known Steve, worked with him very closely, great admirer of his,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said there also has been concern for DeCrescenzo, since he had not come forward yet to face the charges.

“The longer this goes on, the concern builds. We are all concerned for him, and obviously his family,” said McCarthy.

No one answered the door at DeCrescenzo's West Haven home on Thursday.

He is due back in court on November 15.

Bristol bank teller pleads guilty to fraud in Connecticutt

A bank teller accused of stealing from the CD accounts of mostly elderly customers has pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

Federal prosecutors say 35-year-old Michelle Laudato of Farmington pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. district court in Hartford.

Prosecutors say Laudato used her position at a Webster Bank branch in Bristol to steal more than $178,000 from the accounts of at least 18 customers between July 2009 and June 2010. Most of the victims were in their 80s and 90s.

Laudato was accused of withdrawing money from CD accounts to replace funds she had taken from others and taking the money in increments of $10,000 or less to avoid transaction reporting requirements. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Former teller receives probation in embezzlement in Connecticut

Two widely differing pictures were painted in court Tuesday of former credit union teller Yolanda O’Keefe.

Joyce McElhaney, president and CEO of Connecticut Community Credit Union, called O’Keefe “cunningly deceitful” and “a habitual thief” who embezzled more than $20,000 from the credit union’s branch at The Great Cedar Hotel at Foxwoods Resort Casino over a two-year period.

O’Keefe herself and her lawyer, Fred DeCaprio, described the 62-year-old Norwich grandmother, who has had with no previous brushes with the law, as sorry and ashamed about what she did.

A family member has repaid all the money O’Keefe stole, DeCaprio said.

He said she embezzled from her 14-year employer to feed a gambling addiction and because of financial problems caused by her husband being laid off from his job at Electric Boat.

Judge Susan Handy granted O’Keefe’s request for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation. It means if she stays out of trouble for the next two years, the first-degree larceny charge against her will be dropped and she will have a clean record.

O’Keefe was arrested Sept. 25, after it was discovered that $100 bills in the middle of stacks of cash in the vault and in

O’Keefe’s teller drawer had been replaced with $1 bills, Assistant State’s Attorney Lawrence Tytla said.

He said $20,790 was taken from the vault and $810 from the teller’s drawer.

Even though the stolen money has been repaid, McElhaney said, the credit union’s “valued reputation has been compromised,” costing it accounts by depositors who might have lost confidence in it.

“She did not just steal from the vault, she stole from people,” McElhaney said. “She destroyed the morale of the staff and brought unwanted media attention.”

McElhaney said she believes O’Keefe turned down a promotion so she could stay a teller and continue to have access to the branch’s cash.

O’Keefe denied that claim, saying she preferred being a teller.

DeCaprio said O’Keefe was more desperate than calculating.

"I don’t see her as the manipulative person she’s been portrayed as,” he said.

Handy told O’Keefe that she will have to attend and complete a Gamblers Anonymous program and perform 50 hours of community service. She also is banned from the credit union, casinos and other gambling establishments. And for the two years of her probation, she will have to tell future employers what she did.

DeCaprio said because she has been required to disclose that already, O’Keefe hasn’t been able to find a new job after getting fired from the credit union.

“I’m really, deeply sorry for what I did,” O’Keefe said. “At 62, I never thought I’d find myself in this position. … I just want my life back, to get a job and start respecting myself again.”

Ex-bank employee who took $84,000 to get year in jail In Connecticutt

FROM REP-AM.COM -

Former Webster Bank Supervisor Kimberly MacDonald will be sentenced in January to a year in prison for stealing $84,000 by removing bills from the center of strapped cash bundles, and replacing them with $1 bills.




MacDonald, 40, of 237 Moore Drive, in Torrington, turned over $20,000 to the bank Tuesday when the terms of a plea agreement were outlined in Superior Court before Judge James P. Ginocchio. She will be sentenced to five years of probation following her release to repay the remainder of what she stole.



MacDonald admitted taking the cash over five years from Webster Bank branch at 155 Main St. in Thomaston where she was a teller supervisor. She was arrested last December, telling police she starting replacing $100 and other large bills in stacks of $2,000 in cash.

A former Dime Bank executive was sentenced in Connecticutt to 51 months in prison

A former Dime Bank executive was sentenced Wednesday to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling more than $1 million.



Philip Mongillo , 51, of Westbrook, pleaded guilty in June to one count of bank theft.



Mongillo, who served as the bank's assistant vice president and technology officer, was responsible for overseeing the bank's hardware and software systems, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.



Mongillo admitted he created a fake company to issue false invoices to the bank in September 2001, according to court documents. The invoices purported to charge the bank for technology support services that Mongillo knew had not been rendered.



He also set up a post office box and a business checking account in the fictitious company's name and caused the bank to issue payments to the fictitious company, department officials said.



Mongillo then deposited the payments in the business checking account he had established. From September 2001 through November 2010, Mongillo stole approximately $1,029,050 from his employer, officials said.



U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on Wednesday ordered Mongillo to pay restitution to the bank. Mongillo has agreed to a permanent bar from employment with any institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.







Read more: Former Dime Bank executive gets 51 months in embezzlement case - Norwich, CT - The Bulletin http://www.norwichbulletin.com/archive/x1069114619/Former-Dime-Bank-executive-gets-51-months-in-embezzlement-case#ixzz1YPPPYsk1

Trumbull man admits role in $4.8 million bank fraud in Connecticutt

A Trumbull man who ran an automated teller machine dispensing company admitted last week to being involved in a fraudulent scheme that cost Domestic Bank of Cranston, R.I. $4.8 million.Joseph Sarlo, 54, of Trumbull, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud during proceedings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis. He faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 3.Sarlo served as chief executive officer of New England Cash Dispensing Systems, Inc. As part of a contract with Domestic Bank, Sarlo's company provided automated teller machines bearing the bank's logo in convenience stores and gas stations throughout the northeast. Under the terms of the agreement, Domestic would provide the cash to be used inside the machines to only some of them. Sarlo's firm and the merchants where the machines were located would provide the money to other machines.However, Sarlo admitted that from 2007 to February, 2010, he and others would order money in increments of $10,000, $6,000 and $4,000 from Domestic claiming it was being loaded into the bank's machines. The conspirators loaded the money into machines of New England Cash Dispensing and then provided the bank with a false accounting of the money.The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Murphy.

Former Connecticut bank supervisor charged with embezzling customers' money

A former bank teller supervisor from Kent is facing criminal charges for allegedly embezzling $13,000 from one of her customers.Rocio A. Trinidad, 28, 310 South Kent Road, was arrested on a warrant Friday after police said she admitted to embezzling $13,400 from the account of Walter R. Edeen, a customer she assisted while employed at a Webster Bank branch in Kent.According to court documents, Edeen, who has since died, gave Trinidad small monetary gifts ranging from $20 to $100. Beginning in October 2009, however, she began conducting transactions not authorized by Edeen, police said, allegedly taking out between $100 and $3,000 on various occasions between Oct. 16 and April 30.She also would allegedly adjust withdrawal slips that Edeen filled out. If he requested $800 she would place a three in front of that, creating a total $3,800, the woman allegedly admitted to police. Then she would take the $3,000 for herself and give Edeen the $800 he requested, court documents stated.She was eventually terminated on July 2 from her job at the Kent bank branch, after being approached about the matter, court documents stated.On July 17 Kenneth Willard, senior vice president and director of financial intelligence for Webster Bank, N.A., brought the case to police after he had been contacted by Edeen’s family, police said.When police confronted Trinidad, the woman allegedly admitted to the operation. She said she did not accept the tips at first because of Webster Bank’s policy, but after going through some financial hardships with her children, mortgage and other expenses she began taking the tips. Then, she admitted to making the unauthorized withdrawals, her warrant affidavit stated.Police said there were at least four of the withdrawal slips she signed with Edeen’s name at the bottom, court documents stated.Trinidad is facing one count of second-degree larceny and three counts of third-degree forgery.Trinidad turned herself in to the state police Troop L barracks on Friday. After appearing in Bantam Superior Court on a $10,000 bond, Judge Cara Eschuk released Trinidad on a promise to appear back on Sept. 8.She was also ordered to remain at her current address while the case is pending.

Ex-Naugatuck Savings Bank exec pleads guilty to embezzlement in Connecticut

A former bank vice president pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling more than $1 million from the bank over eight years of working there.Federal authorities say 48-year-old Robert A. Nixon, of East Haven, was the vice president of operations of the bank when it was known as Castle Bank and Trust, which merged with Naugatuck Savings Bank in 2009.The fraud was discovered last year after Nixon severed ties with the bank and the merger was completed, according to authorities.Nixon was working in Castle's Middletown office when he began to funnel funds from the bank's account, then cooked the books to cover his tracks, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Robert A. Nixon, 48, of Maynard Road, East Haven, pleaded guilty today in New Haven to one count of theft, embezzlement, or misapplication by a bank officer or employee, and one count of income tax evasion.

The charges stem from Nixon’s embezzlement of more than $1 million from the former Castle Bank and Trust of Middletown, now Naugatuck Savings Bank, while he was Vice President there.According to court documents and statements made in court, while Nixon was Vice President of Operations of Castle Bank and Trust between 2000 and 2008, he made or caused other bank personnel to make computer entries that transferred funds from Castle’s general account into a friend’s personal savings and checking accounts at the bank.Nixon then either withdrew cash from his friend’s account or had his friend take money out and give it to him. H also directed his friend to transfer funds by check from the Castle account to accounts that his friend held at other banks, and then withdraw the cash and give it to Nixon.The total amount of money embezzled through this scheme was $1,039,227.34.In order to hide his theft, Nixon used his position to cause false entries to be made in Castle’s general account and “reprocess” official Castle bank checks that had already been cashed by the respective payees and debited by Castle, which caused an additional debit to appear in the general account.Nixon used the money to make mortgage payments, personal credit card payments, car payments, home improvements, and also to gamble.The fraud was discovered after Nixon left the bank in August 2009, and after the parent company of Naugatuck Savings Bank had acquired Castle.
He also failed to pay federal taxes on the funds that he embezzled. For the 2002 through 2008 tax years, this resulted in an underpayment of $268,784 to the Internal Revenue Service.Nixon is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on October 25. He faces a maximum sentence of 35 years and fine of up to approximately $2 million. He also will be ordered to pay $1,039,227.34 in restitution to Naugatuck bank, as well as full restitution to the IRS, plus applicable interest and penalties.

Connecticut Woman Receives Suspended Sentence in Embezzlement Case

Laura Smith, wife of longtime First Selectman Richard Smith, has been spared jail time on a charge of first degree larceny in the embezzlement of $47,983 from the local Liberty Bank branch.Middlesex Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford Friday gave Smith, 46, a suspended sentence of eight years in prison. The sentence also includes five years on probation, and a requirement for 225 hours of community service.Smith was arrested last November after a police investigation of the embezzlement of $47,983 from accounts at the Liberty Bank branch on Main Street. Smith had worked as a teller at the bank. The police investigation began in February 2009 after bank officials reported the missing funds. Smith has paid back the embezzleed funds.Police reports in the case indicated Smith had a severe gambling problem, and had lost $408,887 at the Mohegan Sun Casino over the past decade, with about $10,000 in earlier losses at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. Police believe the embezzled funds were used to cover gambling debts.The sentence from Clifford also requires Smith to continue to receive counseling for her compulsive gambling problem through a program at Middlesex Hospital, and to stay out of the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos. Smith, who now works at an area Dunkin Donuts, was also ordered to maintain verifiable employment.

Feds say auditor may have let fraud continue at Connecticut credit union: Lawsuit alleges he lacked training for review of NL institution that collapsed

A federal agency is alleging that an unqualified auditor may have allowed a multimillion-dollar fraud at the New London Security Federal Credit Union to fester for years before the financial institution suddenly collapsed two years ago.The board of the National Credit Union Administration, the agency that regulates federal credit unions, said in an amended lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that Robert Shutsky of Preston, an employee of Ed Lorah & Associates, performed audits for the New London credit union. For most of those years, according to the suit, Shutsky was employed by Beller, Shepatin & Co., a New London accounting firm purchased by Lorah in September 2007."Shutsky was unqualified and lacked the proper and necessary training and knowledge to perform auditing and review services," according to the suit. Shutsky did not respond to two telephone messages seeking comment. In an answer to the complaint filed last week, attorneys Marisa Lanza and Andrew F. Pisanelli denied the allegations. But the attorneys acknowledged Shutsky joined Lorah when the New London accounting firm bought Beller Shepatin, and that he was the auditor for the credit union. Lorah had previously said his company never performed an audit on behalf of the credit union. "I stand by my previous comment," he said in an e-mail Wednesday.But the NCUA said in its amended suit that the credit union's final audit, in October 2007, came about a month after Lorah acquired Beller Shepatin.bIt contends that Lorah's firm, as successor to Beller Shepatin, is responsible for $9.7 million in deposit insurance losses that the agency incurred when the New London Security Federal Credit Union was declared insolvent in July 2008 after a routine NCUA examination. The agency also said it is trying to recover $570,000 on behalf of uninsured shareholders in the credit union.In an October 2009 report by the Office of Inspector General, the NCUA blamed the credit union's failure on a massive embezzlement scheme by longtime New London stockbroker Edwin F. Rachleff, who served as the financial institution's investment adviser. Rachleff, who was accused in the report of creating a dummy account and fictional investment statements, committed suicide the day the credit union was shut down. The NCUA said in its suit that Rachleff's scheme went on far longer than it might have if auditor Shutsky or his employees, Beller Shepatin and Ed Lorah, had done their jobs properly. Among the NCUA's allegations were that Shutsky failed to request independent confirmations of accounts being audited and neglected to question inconsistencies in account statements. "Had Beller Shepatin and Mr. Shutsky performed proper audits and reviews, the credit union would have uncovered the fraudulent investment account years sooner," according to the suit. In addition to the suit against Beller Shepatin, Shutsky and Lorah, the NCUA earlier this year filed suit against Wells Fargo Advisers LLC, successor to the brokerage houses A.G. Edwards and Wachovia Securities, companies for which Rachleff worked. It also has sued Rachleff's estate, which had less than $40,000 in assets. Shutsky is being sued for professional malpractice, while Lorah and Beller Shepatin are accused in the NCUA's complaint of professional malpractice and breach of contract.

Former New Milford, Connecticutt bank teller accused of embezzlement

The former head teller for the Savings Bank of Danbury in New Milford posted a $15,000 bond in Bantam Superior Court Monday following his arraignment on larceny charges.

William Baldwin Jr., 26, admitted to police that he took $16,500 over a period of a year by taking $20- $100 at a time from his cash drawer, then claiming it was transferred to the bank vault. In May, he tried to cover it up by stealing from three savings accounts to make up the shortfall he feared would be uncovered through an audit. His final desperate effort to avoid detection was his undoing, and brought his actions to the attention of bank officials.
Baldwin, who lives in New Milford, had worked for the bank at Kent Road for eight years, rising to the position of head teller last year.

Feds want jail for Connecticutt woman who embezzled $700K from Credit Union

Federal prosecutors say they're seeking a five-year prison sentence for a Connecticut bookkeeper who embezzled more than $700,000 from a credit union in Meriden where she worked.

Melissa Laliberte, 39, of Wallingford pleaded guilty in September in Hartford federal court to embezzlement and filing a false income tax return. She is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Authorities say Laliberte took $743,768 from Meriden Franco-American Federal Credit Union, which was placed into liquidation last year.
Laliberte admitted she took cash from credit union members intended to pay down loan balances, made unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts, drew her salary several times a month and used member checks to pay her personal expenses.